Venom

There’s much to love and equally as much to dislike, but Venom is a film produced for the masses and it works

Venom withstands the scrutiny each and every super-hero film now has to endure, but it doesn’t survive in the same way 99% of MCU films manage to. With its two wonderful leads, its carefully set out origin storyline, and a character that has monumentally failed on the big screen before (Spiderman 3 we’re looking at you), Venom is very much a standard comic book film with a life-saving twist.

Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is a world-renowned journalist, impassioned by exposing wrongdoing in every possible way. Known by his own employers as a volatile character, Eddie is asked to tone down his line of questioning in an upcoming meeting with the CEO of a major donor company. However, Eddie cannot control himself, angering CEO Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) subsequently losing his job. Yet, an employee of the company fears for lives after Drake begins using human guinea pigs to test out a new symbiote, enraging Eddie into seeking out the answers to exactly what is happening behind closed doors.

It’s hard to pinpoint any real differences within Venom, setting it apart from the sheer number of comic-based film and television series that currently flood the market. With a flawed lead and a frustrated girlfriend, the film often sings a repetitive note, failing to stand out from all of those before it. There’s multiple qualities, but none that haven’t been seen before, and Venom needed to be different to make a genuine impact.

It is however separate from the rest of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, giving it some level of breathing space from its peers, also stemming from its villain/anti hero lead, offering at least some insight into the darker side of Marvel, something DC is often far more likely to explore. There’s less pressure on the film to match those before it, however much it still manages to toe the line.

Yet Venom’s real strong point comes in the form of the two brilliant actors producing some of their best performances to date, aimed especially at the larger comic book audience. For these films to truly take off, there needs to be a level of seriousness taken with them, just like any other film; This gives a set of films once ridiculed, a hugely important role in the world of film making. Williams and Hardy are at the top of their game as they supply the well constructed story a visual outlet. Without them Venom probably wouldn’t be the success it has been, despite, especially Williams, them not receiving as much credit as it probably deserved.

There’s much to love and equally as much to dislike, but Venom is a film produced for the masses and it works. It holds steady, refusing to rock the boat too much, coming off as a little dated and underdone, but it opens up a new character for Marvel to spread, who already seems to have been welcomed graciously by most.